Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows

Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold

Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold

Elsewhere on Pern
NPC Weyr
River Bluff Weyr
Seacraft Hall

Story Listing
Series Listing

Weyrling Training

Writers: Halyonix
Date Posted: 14th April 2026

Characters: Noreia
Description: Noreia opens the bottle she found
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 1, day 24 of Turn 13
Notes: Part 2 of "In a Bottle" series

Her studies kept her from opening the bottle until the next day. She was a bit surprised that Luck hadn't messed with the bottle out of curiosity. She rewarded him with extra bits from her meatroll and plenty of mental thanks.

Now, it was evening and she was sitting cross-legged on her bunk, Luck curled on the pillow across from her. She turned it over slowly in her dexterous hands. It was a mottled blue color, indicating that it had been in the water long enough for the salt to encrust and scour away some of the markings. Within, something shifted and clinked. Something metal but there was something else in there too. But nothing heavy.

Noreia took out her knife and very carefully began working at the seal. When she had first discovered the bottle, she had thought it was a finely made seal but open closer inspection, it was hastily made. A slapping together of materials in a mad dash hope that it would hold. Her knife slid under the pitch enough so that she could eventually tug at the wire.

Freed of its seal, the wooden cork posed no barrier. It made a soft pop as Noreia removed it. Putting one eye at the opening, she could see that inside was a rolled up sheaf of paper and...well, she couldn't figure out what the metal thing was yet but when she turned the bottle upside down, a finely wrought chain slithered out. The metal clink, she now saw, came from the pendant: a golden circular plate with a small gem embedded in it.

On the back was a name.

Something began to tug at Noreia's mind and as she teased the paper from the bottle, that feeling grew worse. "Don't touch that," she said with quiet sharpness to Luck when the firelizard uncurled himself from the pillow to investigate the necklace. She would have to hide it somewhere so that he didn't steal it. Not before she could find out who it belonged to.

She unrolled the letter. It was hastily scrawled and it took her a moment to figure out the flow of the handwriting so that it became words. But once she had it, she wished that she hadn't been able to read any of it.

Paling, she carefully rolled the letter back up, put it back in the bottle, and very reverently returned the chain to it as well. The wooden cork went back into place, sealing it all back up, and then it sat, untouched, on the bed in front of Noreia once again.

That letter had been...personal. Deeply personal. Noreia swallowed slowly. How far had that bottle _traveled_? Was there any chance that she would be able to find its sender? Or its intended receiver? No, the sender was...the sender...

Luck came over, crooning soothingly as he detected his mistress's emotions. He nuzzled her fingers until she pet him. She took comfort in his soft hide, in the anchoring knowledge that if she ever found herself in the same situation as the sender, she would at least have Luck to help her. That gave her a small fragment of hope and reassurance.

"We have to speak with someone," she said to him. "I...I don't know how we're going to find...them, but we have to at least try." She couldn't _ignore_ a last request like that. It went against her moral compass to even think about doing so.

Lucky cheeped, agreeing.

"The Hallmaster would know. Or one of the other Masters," Noreia said, still petting Luck as she formed a plan on how to explain what she had found. "And the dolphins would know the currents. We can follow them back until...we find something?" Hopefully they would find something. But she wasn't going to do it alone. Others needed to know. This was far bigger than a mere apprentice should handle.

Her path set, Noreia unfolded herself and slipped from the bed. She cradled the bottle with a new reverence. "Come on," she said to Luck. "Let's see if we can find him." Luck took flight ahead of her, acting as both warning to others and guide to her, as Noreia hurried through the corridors of the Hall, in search of someone who could help her solve this mystery.

Last updated on the April 26th 2026